WNYT.com

Maryland man sentenced for role in child porn ring

Updated at: 02/01/2013 4:37 PM
By CHARLES WILSON

(AP) INDIANAPOLIS - A Maryland man who helped run an online bulletin board where hundreds of child pornographers from around the world shared images and videos was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison following a trial in Indiana.

Roger Loughry Sr., 57, of Baltimore, received the punishment for advertising and distributing child pornography and for conspiring to do so, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement. Loughry was convicted on all charges after a four-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

Federal prosecutors said Loughry was a co-administrator of the site known as the Cache and one of the international online ring’s five top-ranking members.

His conviction stemmed from a two-year international investigation called Operation Nest Egg. The group’s alleged ringleader, Delwyn Savigar, is serving a 14-year prison term in England for sexually assaulting or trying to abuse three underage girls.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota said the case is still believed to be the largest child pornography conspiracy ever prosecuted, though similar rings have since been uncovered.

The password-protected Cache website had 1,000 members at its peak and numbered more than 500 when it was shut down in 2008. Members were granted access to the hierarchical group’s website by invitation only and had to be vetted by senior members. Only the most trusted members controlled the huge stash of child pornography, and members advised one another in forums on how best to cover their tracks.

Authorities arrested more than 50 suspects in the United States, including more than 20 who were charged in Indiana. DeBrota said all of the suspects who were indicted in Indianapolis have since been convicted.

Loughry was found guilty of the same charges in 2010, but his conviction was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered because evidence that wasn’t used on the website was admitted, DeBrota said.

"What we did this week was we tried him again without that evidence," DeBrota said.

Loughry said he plans to appeal again. His attorney did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday.